Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1924 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

Download & Play

Questions

Newspaper Page Text

THE GARDEN ISLAND. TUESDAY, JULY 15, 1919
Experienced Engineers sav
Voorhees Rub-Steel Valvqs
GIVE BEST RESULTS LAST LONGEST
Because
It has a solid core
Reversible Rubber Seating Surface
; A true seating At ALL AT TIMES
Requires no special equipment
t Allows removal of seat bridgings
The Valve with the Backbone"
Write us for information about these efficient valves
Catton, Neill & Co., Ltd.
AGENTS
Queen and Alakea Sts.
Waimea Stable s
LIMITED
Up-to-date Livery, Draying and Boarding Stable and Auto-
Livery Business.
AUTOMOBILE STAGE-LINE
' BETWEEN LIHUE and KEKAHA
Leaving Liliue every Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
Leaving Kekaha every Tuesday. Thursday and Saturday.
ARRIVING AT THEIR DESTINATION IN THREE HOURS
ALFRED GOMEZ, Manager.
Telephone 43 W Waimea P. O. Box 71
Honolulu Music Co. Ltd.
JAMES W. BERGSTROM, Manager
Ampico Reproducing Pianos, Knabe, Fis
her, Haines and Kroeger Pianos, Victor
and Columbia Machines and Records.
Latest neet Music and Player music rolls,
Pianos and Player Pianos on small month
ly payments. Pianos tuned and repaired
and rented by Jack Bergstrom, Kauai
agent.
Honolulu Music Co. Ltd.
i Telephone - - Lihue Hotel.
TERRITORIAL MESSENGER SERVICE
TAKES ORDERS FOR ALL KINDS OF
Dry Cleaning and Laundry Work
SEND BY PARCEL POST TO
1112 UNION ST. -
HONOULU
VACATION
Is the time to get your wardrobe into shape
Every known fabric takes on a newness, a freshness and a
sightliness; under the skillful handling of our staff of experts who
CLEAN, DYE, MEND AND PRESS
Don't hesitate to send us the niosi delicate fabric.
French Laundry
J. Abadie, Prop. Honolulu
TIP TOP TAILORS
Makers of Dress Suits and Business Suits,
Summer Suits and Uniforms
Clothes Neatly Cleaned and Pressed.
TIP TOP BLDG. LIHUE
Hawaii at the Front
First Hand Experiences
4
The following graphic inter
view . account of the experiences
of Allan C. Wilcox, who served
for over a year in the regular
Army Ambulance Service, will in
terest our readers as first hand
information of actual events:
While waitiug for transporta
tion across I put in a couple of
months preliminary training part
of which was devoted to the de
tailed study of a Ford car and its
failings so that I might be able
to cure its ailments in the field.
and then when I got over there
we didn't have Fords at all
but O. M. O. cars, which is a
rather better car than the Ford,
though I must say that the Ford
will go places that no other car
on earth will.I also had to do a
lot of hiking and a lot 'of reg
ular army drill etc. I got into
an old company that had been
drilling for mouths, tho I was
given only two months prelimi
narv training and shoved on
with the older hands.
All Aboard for France
Finally with many others I
received my orders for France in
July 1917 and sailed from Mew
York in the "Orizaba" one of the
smaller transports used for that
service. There were 3000 of us
aboard her which isn't many
compared for instance with the
23,000 that the "Imperado" car
ried. We were crowded in three
tier deep in bunks one over the
other, I had the bottom berth,
which was allright as the other
fellows above me weren't sick;
but you can imagine how unplea
sant it might have been under
other circumstances.
There were Ave transports in
the convoy of which the "Ori
gaba" was the smallest but the
fastest. She however had to be
gauged by that of the slowest
member of the squadron. It was
a smooth and .uneventful trip ex
cept that one of the transports
fell foul of a merchant sailing
ship in the middle of the night
and crashed into her with such
violence that she went to the bot
tom in a few minutes; fortunate
ly the crew were sdved.
Darkness Ruled at Night
You see no lights were allowed
of any kind, you weren't even al
lowed to smoke a cigar at night.
We were searched on going a
board and all matches were taken
away from us. Most of us man
aged however to get hold of some
by hook or crook, and any man
who had them was popular and
much sought after. For the neg
lect of this regulation, and the
lighting a match at nigkt one
man of our crowd was put in
irons for the rest of the voyage.
Stevedoring in France
Only on the last day out did
we pick up destroyers which con
voyed us safely through the sub
marine danger zone, to Brest
which we reached on the eleventh
day form New York. From there
we were conveyed to La Rochelle
by train, crowded into box cars
thirty-six men in a car, sitting or
lying on coarse straw in the bot
tom of the car. Ilere we remain
ed a few, days waiting for our
auto ambulances to be assembled,
and during part of this time we
were detailed to unload the
American llawaiian steamer Ari-
zonan, handling big pipe and
other heavy freight, which came
kind of hard on some of us who
weren't used to that sort of thing.
We did this work by way of sub
stitute for German prisoners, and
to give them a rest, which kind of
galled some of us.
Across Country in La Belle
France
We -were glad when our cars
were ready and we could start
out across country to our assign
ments. There were four compa
nies of us in one section, with
twelve cars to each company, two
men to a car with a few mecha
nics and helpers thrown in. Our
cars were new, G. M. C. cars as I
have said, and we set out on a
regular joy ride through the
cream of France. The roads
through that part of France were
fine; it was summer and beauti
ful weather, and the rural re
gions through which we fared
were most charming. We passed
through many historic places
where they said wonderful things
had happened, Poitiers, Tours,
Orleans, Fontaiuebleau etc., but
I didn't know anything about
French history so they didn't
mean much to me. We went by
leaving Paris to the North and
East which we all felt was a kind
or hardship, hut we had our in
structions and had to obey them.
We were slated for Chateau
Thierry, and we made it in four
days, doing from 140 to 1G0 miles
a day.
the Wake of the Fiercest
Fighting
We arrived there late in July,
just after, the big drive in which
so many men were slaughtered,
and there was plenty of work for
the ambulance service to do. I
was located at Crezancy, a vil
lage near Chateau Thierry. Later
I was transferred to Toul, Chau
niont and other places, and last of
all, to erdun. vv e were moved
about of course according to the
needs; wherever the action was
the hottest there the demand for
ambulances was the most pres
sing. This kept us of course in
the wake of the fiercest fighting,
and kept us vividly familiar with
the horrors and brutalities of
war.
The Underground Citadel at
Verdun
At Verdun I was favored with
a chance to see the underground
citadel a chance that did not
come to many Americans. I was
cammandeered by a priest to take
a lady and her daughter evi
dently people of station out to
one of the outlying military ceme
teries, and to help them find the
grave of her husband. Avhen I
returned, the priest in recogni
tion of my service, consented to
take me through the citadel. The
central part of Verdun lying be
tween two ridges has been wall
ed about with massive walls, and
then decked over by a reinforced
concrete roof that is absolutely
shell and bomb-proof, so that it is
really an underground city. The
whole place is- electrically light
ed and ventilated, and everything
goes on just as above ground in
the open air. There are street
railways, shops, restaurants, ho
tels, theaters, and all the inter
ests and activities of every day
life, but of course with a very
strong military flavor, and you
never forget that it is a time of
war.
Reluctant to Quit
No, there was no great degree
of excitement that 1 saw, when
the news came of the signing o(
the armistice. In fact it was
hardly news, everybody knew it
was coming,- and it was only a
question of the day and the hour.
No doubt there was much jubi
laut rejoicing among the civilian
population of France, but as far
as the army was concerned there
was more or less disappointment
and dissatisfaction that they had
to call a halt, just when things
were coming their way, and there
was no doubt a very general feel
ing among all the forces of what
ever nationality that we ought to
have been allowed to get right in
to Germany.
Big Licks at the Last
And this feeling showed in a
marked reluctance to quit fight
ing and in a frantic effort to
make the most of the few remain
ing hours. Vast stores of muni
tions were hurried to the front
with redoubled energy, and the
storm of action swelled with ever
increasing fury up to the very last
minute, when the stroke of eleven
o'clock called a halt, and then
there was a most impressive and
almost uncanny silence over the
land; and we knew that the war
was over.
But there was no cessation of
activity for the ambulance ser
vice. There were still plenty of
wounded and dying men, and it
was a long time before things
slacked up and began to look like
demobilization for us.
Routine of the Ambulance Service
I was in the ambulance service.
There were thirty-seven of us in
my company and we were gener
ally attached to some evacuation
hospital which was headquarters
for us, and our duty was gener
ally the transfer of the wounded
from the first aid or emergency
hospitals just back of the trench
es to these evacuation hospitals,
a steady llowing stream of them
day in and day out. In the emer
gency hospitals they would be
given the first dressings and the
immediate operations and then
just as soon as possible they must
be hurried back to the better
equipment farther in the rear.
The distance of this transfer va
ried of course with the locality
from a few miles to as high as 35
miles. Hie roads were good
bad and indifferent, generally
anything but good. France has
good roads but they have suffer
ed very seriously during the war
Continued 'Next Week.
Nawiliwili Garage, Ltd.
REPAIR SHOP & SERVICE DEPARTMENT
General Automobile, Tractor, Gas Engine
& Truck Repairing.
MACHINE SHOP
WELDING
VULCANIZING
BATTER!' a ELECTRICAL WORK
We are at your Service. If you can
not bring the work in we will send
a mechanic to you.
We respectfully solicit your patronage and
gaurantee satisfaction
WILLIAM ELLIS, Foreman
Csprrlf M H SchaAncr St Mm
4 -
Silva's Toggery , Honolulu.
R for every home I
j COMFORT.
Are enjoyed by owners
of Delco-Light.
It will light the house
and garage, pump water
operate wathing machine
Vacuum cleaner or fan.
OPERATES ON CAS
DISTILLATE OF KERO-
SINE.
A plant like this is within
your means.
The Hawaiian Electric Co.,
Limited
Honolulu
I
I